Report: Expanding Business Aviation Could Help European Recovery

Business aviation could play a vital role in the continued recovery of the European economy, according to a report conducted by Oxford Economics.

The report, conducted on behalf of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), said in 2011, 96 percent of city pairs served by business aviation had no scheduled connection. The other 4 percent served more than a third of all business aviation air traffic in volume, according to Oxford.

Also, the report uses case studies to highlight the importance of business aviation to local economies in Europe. One example shows that at Farnborough Airport in the U.K., onsite employment is around 1,000 jobs — and an additional 4,000 jobs in the local region are the result of the airport’s larger supply chain.

The Oxford economists also found each additional passenger on a business aviation flight generates the same gross domestic product as nine business passengers on a scheduled flight.

EBAA concludes from the report that more investment in the business aviation industry and expansion of destinations served by business aircraft operators would greatly help to accelerate the European economic recovery.

“What this study clearly points out is that business aviation is playing a key role in facilitating Europe’s recovery,” said Fabio Gamba, CEO at EBAA. “This importance should be recognized in policy formulation, with legislators developing regulations and mechanisms that bolster business aviation activity in order to further stimulate the growth of our region, rather than ignore it as it was evidenced with the European Commission’s proposed recast on slot allocation, or penalize it as the Italian government has done by introducing a double tax on owners and passengers, resulting in dismal traffic figures in the country.”